Method of attaching a pin type terminal to a base



March 15, 1949. H. v. KNAUF, JR 2,464,45

. METHOD OF ATTACHING A PIN 7 TYPE TERMINAL TO A BASE Filed July 22, 1944 Zfimentor HRRYV, NHLIF, JR,

attorney Patented Mar. 15, 1949 METHOD OF ATTACHING A PIN TYPE TERMINAL T BASE Harry V. Knauf, Jr., Oaklyn, N. J., assignor to Radio Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application July 22, 1944, Serial No. 546,094

The invention covered herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for any governmental purposes without payment to me or assigns of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to electrical connectors of the so-called pin type and to improvements in the art of attaching such terminals to a panel, socket or other base.

It may be said, generally, thathollow pin type connectors, especially those made from sheet metal, are less costly to manufacture than solid connectors of similar dimensions made from rod or bar stock. The advantage of low initial costenjoyed by the hollow pin is, however, offset to a considerable extent by the expense of entering and soldering a lead therein and in rounding and polishing the soldered end of the assembly. Furthermore, hollow pins are not as strong as solid pins and simply cannot be used in certain installations. On the other hand, pins made from rod or 'bar stock are diihcult to attach to a panel or other base andthe riveting or peening force heretofore used in their attachment may shatter the support to which the pins are being afilxed. This latter difliculty is also frequently encountered in the attachment, by

day methods, of hollow pin type connectoi's.

Accordinglyv it is among the objects of the present ll'lVeIltlUf; to provide a pin type connector which shall possess the strength and other advantages of a solid pin, and one nevertheless capable of being aflixed to a socket, panel or other base without danger of shattering the said support.

Another and important object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of attaching a pin type connector to a support, said method being applicable to conventionalhollow type pins as well as to the solid type connector hereinafter described.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved-connector oi the general character described and one incorporating an anchor, clamp, or the like, for securing a wire or other lead to the inner terminal thereof.

The foregoing and other objects are achieved in accordance with the invention by the provision of a pin type connector sufficiently long to extend beyond the top or inn-er (as well as the "bottom or'outer) surface of the supporting panel or base, at least the inwardly extending part of the pin being hollow and capable of being cut and distorted in the manner later described.

4 Claims. (Cl. 29-15555) In attaching the pin' to a panel or other base, a

tool of special design is pressed down on the hollow end of the pin and cuts two oppositely located strips or tongues in its tubular wall. As

these tongues are formed, the free ends thereof v are curled outwardly and urged downwardly by the tool into contact with the base and thus serve to affix-the pin to thesaid base. Since the attaching force is applied steadily, rather than abruptly, and is exerted upon and cushioned by the curled-up metal tongues, the panel is not subject to any force capable of shattering or breaking it. The parts of the walls of the pin which remain standing after the tongues are formed may serve, in accordance with the invention, as the jaws of a clamp in which a wire or other lead may be secured.

Certain preferred details of construction and procedure together with other objects and ,ad-' vantages will be apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following specification and to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figures 1, 2 and 3 are views in perspective of a wafer-type socket or base showing two pintype connectors at three successive stages of attachment,

- Figure 4 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a panel and an alternative "solid form of pin and showing the tool used in the attachment of a pin type terminal to a panel, and

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the base and terminal assembly shown in Fig. 4.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate the same or corresponding parts in all figures, l designates an apertured base, panel or socket having two pin type connectors 2 and 3,- respectively, which extend through the base and well beyond its top and bottom surfaces. The connector which is designated 2 comprises a relativelylong but otherwise conventional hollow pin type connector formed of sheet metal, open at the top and closed at its lower end as by. means of a plug 4 constituted of solder. The pin 3, on the other hand, is formed, as on a screwmachine, from rod or bar stock and has a bore 5 (see Fig. 4) which extends from the inner or top end of the pin to'a point adjacent to the level of the base I. Each of the pins 2 and 3 is provided with a stop or shoulder I which abuts the lower surface of the panel I when the pins are entered into the apertures with which the said base is provided. In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 4, the pin type connector, which is here designated 3i comprises a binding post and is provided with two"e'xtra" shoulders 8 and I 1 between which a wire 13 may be wound without danger of its slipping off the end of the pin.

As previously indicated, at least that portion of each pin which extends above the base I is hollow and the tubular wall of said portion of minal, and a pair of oppositely located rounded cut-away portions 23 which serve to curl the metal outwardly and downwardly into contact with the base I.

Since the only force applied to the socket or base I by the tool i1 is cushioned by the springlike curled-metal tongues l4 and it, it is apparent that there is no danger of shattering the base in attaching the terminals thereto.

In order to prevent the terminals from being turned, subsequent to their attachment, it is preferable to provide the upper surface, of the base with a preformed non-circular depression 25 (see Figs. 4 and within which the curledup tongues l I and it are received.

As shown in Fig. 3, the oppositely located part 21 and 29 of the terminal which remain standing after the tongues l4 and I5 have been struck out, may be employed as an anchor or clamp for one or more lead wires 3|. These leads 3! may be secured to the terminalsby pinching the upstanding arms or jaws 21 and 29 together.

It will now be apparent that the present invention provides an improved method of attaching a pin type connector to a support, and that said method is applicable to conventional hollow type pins as well as to the "solid type connector.

What is claimed is:

' 1. In the attachment, to a base, of a pin type terminal having an end portion which extends beyond said base, the steps which comprise cutting a tongue from the end of said extended portion of said terminal, curling said tongue downwardly from said and through an arc of more than 180 before reaching engagement with said base and continuing said curling until said 14 tongue is forced into engagement with said base. 2. In the attachment, to a base, of a pin type metal terminal having a hollow end portion which extends beyond said base. the steps which 5 comprise cutting a plurality of axially extendin slits from the end of the wall of said extended hollow end portion of said terminal, curling the metal between said slits downwardly through an arc of more than 180 before reaching engagement with said base and continuing said curling until said tongue is forced into engagement with said base. Y

3. In the attachment. to a base. of a pin type terminal having a hollow end' portion which 15 extends beyond said base, the steps which comprise cutting a tongue commencing at said end in the wall of said extended hollow portion of said terminal and simultaneously curling said tongue downwardly from said end through an are of more than-180 before reaching engagement with said base and continuing said curling until said tongue is forced into engagement with saidbase. 1-

4. Method of attaching a pin type terminal having'a hollow end portion at one end thereof to a base having an aperture therein and a noncircular depression about said aperture, said method comprisingpassing said hollow end portion of said terminal through said aperture, cutting a tongue commencing at said end in the wall of the extended hollow portion of said terminal, curling said tongue downwardly from said end through an arc of more than before reaching engagement with said base and continuing 5 said curling until said tongue is forced into engagement with the bottom of said depression.

. HARRY V. KNAUF, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

, UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

